Much like baseball fans, we here at San Francisco Opera count down the days until the opening of the Fall 2012 opera season. But as we were strolling around the City, enjoying the last days of summer, we realized that San Francisco was practically tailor-made for the five fall operas. We found so many connections between our beloved city and the fall season that we had to share them!

On Sunday, August 19, The San Francisco Opera Orchestra, along with a group of Adler Fellows, joined soprano Leah Crocetto and tenor Michael Fabiano to present a concert of arias and duets at the Stern Grove Festival. Our annual concert at Stern Grove is always a favorite of bay area crowds, but this one was even more special since Stern Grove is celebrating their 75th Anniversary. The concert was a great success and a fun afternoon for everyone involved. Take a look at a selection of photos from the event and you'll see what we mean. All photos by Scott Wall.

Last Thursday on August 16th, the San Francisco Opera's BRAVO! Club officially kicked off the 21th Annual Opening Gala under the glitz and glamor of the CODE Salon and The Factory Label. Over 150 BRAVO! Gala ticket holders and their guests were invited to celebrate this year's Gala in style.

Have you seen the August issue of Opera News? The cover story is called “Opera’s Next Wave: The Voices and Faces of the Future.” It’s a great article, and well worth reading while it’s still out on newsstands. Here at San Francisco Opera, we couldn’t help but swell with pride at how many familiar faces graced the pages of this article. Quite a good number of these up and coming opera stars have performed on the War Memorial Opera House stage in the last several years or are scheduled to make debuts in the near future. Which of these fine young musicians, which Opera News predicts will “break out and become major forces in the field in the coming decade,” have we brought to Bay Area audiences lately? Allow us a trip down memory lane. [Left: Luca Pisaroni in The Marriage of Figaro]

And this is no run of the mill, 8 week and then you are done, showmance. This one will go the distance. The difficulty of this showmance is that it involves more than one artist and I am afraid that when Nixon in Chinafinishes its run here in San Francisco, I may be thrown into a fit of post-show depression that I can’t climb out of.

Introduction

Backstage at San Francisco Opera is a fascinating, fast-moving, mysterious and sacred space for the Company’s singers, musicians, dancers, technicians and production crews. Musical and staging rehearsals are on-going, scenery is loaded in and taken out, lighting cues are set, costumes and wigs are moved around and everything is made ready to receive the audience. From the principal singers, chorus and orchestra musicians to the creative teams for each opera, in addition to the many talented folks who don’t take a bow on stage, this blog offers unique insight, both thought-provoking and light-hearted, into the life backstage at San Francisco Opera.